Camera bellows



Jul-y 8 1924.

C. E. HUTCHINGS CAMERA BELLOWS Filed June 28 Charlas' Patented July 8, 1924.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

. CHARLES E. HUTCHINGS, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR T EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY, 0F ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION 0F NEW YORK.

CAMERA 4kBELLO-7' S.

Application led June 28, 1923. Serial No. 648,360.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, CHARLES E. HUTcH- INGS, a citizen of the United States of America, residing atv Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Camera Bellows, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact specification.

ThisA invention relates to photography and more vparticularlyto bellows for coinusually the lining material, beforefoldpact folding cameras. It has for its object to provide a bellows structure with which ak camera Vbellows can be made having portions of lwall areas ofpdifferent thicknesses; to provide a reinforcing system of strips which `can be used in a bellows as above described;.to provide a bellows structure in which certain folds may be made thinner than certain other folds; to provide a bellows structure which includes the necessary reinforcing strips for retaining the shape of the bellows and for guides in making the bellows, and other objects will appear in the following specification,

Such thin leather is liable to be porous making it hard to properly light proof the bellows To be ,satisfactory a bellows should. have alight proof lining, some reinforcing strips and a leather covering.

It has also been the custom to placev heavy paper reinforcing strips on a blank,

ing; a machine for cutting and placing such strips being shown and fully described in U. S. Patent No. 981,200 for formation of an article and its application to another article, issued January 10th, 1911, to R. Kroeldel. These paper strips on each fold form guides for folding in making the bellows, (which is done by hand) and also serve as reinforcing strips to prevent the bellows from collapsing causing it'to retain its shape and to fold in the proper places. Each paper strip may be .O09 of an inch thick, and this added to the .O05 of an inch thick lining, and the .007 of an inch thick leather makes the average bellows layer approximately .021 of an inch thick. It can readily be seenV that several folds of the bellows pile up to a considerable thickness. 4

My inventionhas to do particularly with reducing the thickness of the bellows folds, and at the same time increasing the leather thickness. It is also directed particularly to reducing the thickness of certain areas of the bellows wall, where, because of the construction of the camera, the bellows folds should be of a minimum thickness.

Coming now to the drawings, wherein like reference characters denote like parts throughout:

F ig. 1 is a blank from which the bellows is made;

Fig. 2 is a section of certain parts of a' typically thin camera, all parts being on an enlarged scale;

Fig. 3 shows in perspective the corner of my bellows; and f Fig. 4 shows half of a bellows blank reinforced in accordance with, and illustrating, one form of my invention.

A bellows B is made from a blank 1 which may be cut as shown in Fig. 1 with similar sides 2, anda ysimilar top and bottom 3, having an overlapping.4 flap 4 of any desired shape. The bellows sections are folded on dashed lines 5 and the flap upon a dashed and dotted line 6.

It is customary to cut ont a blank as shown inV Fig. 1 of the lining material. which may be of light proof rubberized material known commercially as camera cloth, upon which are pasted the reinforcingvside strips 11- and 13 and topv'and bottom strips 14 `and 16. Referring to Fig. 4 it will be seen that toward the large end`9 of the sides (one shown). certain folds 12 do not ha-vevpaper strips, and that certain strips 13 alternate with these strips 12. So also on the top and bottom parts 3, certain folds omit the paper strips and are alternated with the reinforcing* strips, 16. Strips 16 are in staggered relation with strips 18. For this reason there is, when the bellows is completedLat least one reinforcing strip for each fold. After the reinforcing strips are in place, a leather blank L'of the same shape-and size as theY end oflinder 26 and the bellows frame 30.

In this camera the restricted bellows area should be atvthe large end of the bellows, where the folds come opposite the smallest camerav clearance. 'Ilhe bellows should, therefore, be made to fold in a. minimum. space at these points. Consequently the. reinforcing layout shown in Fig. Li.. is used. Obviously the location` of the reinforcing strips may be altered to suit the particular designof camera. The bellows area which lies in therestricted region of a came-ra being made thin by omitting the reinforcing stripsy as above described.

I have found that alternate strips in staggered relationV can be used. without altering the durability of the bellows and that such a V bellows can be as readily cut out and. assembled as the entirely reinforced bellows. 'I;` his` structure permits a thinner bellows with heavier leather than could be heretofore used, and also allows the use of leather having a larger variation in thickness throughout, thus eifectinga veryy substantial.

saving.

Moreover the bellows can bev made of much stouter materials than heretofore because inv the restricted areas the bellows cani be made. asl thin, within certain limits, as Y desired.

I am aware4 that many changes can be made without departing from the scope of my invention and I contemplate as included in my invention all such changes as may come within the terms of the appended claims. .n p

4 Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

` folds of, differentthicknesses 8. A camera bellows having a series of folds, some of the folds being of less thickness than others.

` 4f. A camera bellows having a series of reinforcing strips included in the bellows walls and spaced in a definite relation, the

spacing'of certain strips being different from the spacing of the remaining strips.

5. A camera hbellows having a series of reinforcing strips included in the bellows folds,I some ofthe folds having two reinforcing strips, one on each side, and other folds having one. reinforcing strip. only.

6. A camera bellows havingts@l pairs of similar sides, folds included.r in the sides, certain folds of each of the pairs of sides having. two reinforcing strips, certain other adapted to engage both endsr of. the bellows,

parts ofthe cameral-ying close to eachother when` the camera is,V folded thus forming a restrictedarea with certain areas .of the bellows walls lying in the restricted area, the area of the bellows, walls lying. inlr the4 restricted area. being of lessy thiclniess,thanY the remaining area of the bellows walls.

8. Inra folding camera, thecombination I with. a bellows, of partsY of the camera adapted to engageboth endsofthebellows, partsof the camera lying closetoeachother when the camera is foldedV thus; forming aV restricted areawithcertain areas of the bel.- lows walls lying,V in the restricted area, a pluralityof foldslin the bellows walls, reinforcing strips, inthe folds, alternate wallsof, thel folds beingunreinforced inlthat area off the bellows which lies inthe restricted area 9.-In a folding came-ra, the ycombination with Va camera body, ofa lenscarrying structure slidable into. and out of the body', parts of the lens-carrying structure and, part-s of the body supporting al bellows, the lens-carryingl structure and the. body ofl the camera having par-ts lying` closeto eachother whenl thev camera is folded formingV a restricted area, the bellows whenl folded hav-Y ing portions adapted to liev in theV re:l stricted area, reinforcing strips closely spa-ced in the: major portion of the4 bellow-S.; and widely spaced' in that; portion of the bellows which lies in therestricted area..

1.0.;111 a folding.' camera, the iclllbinationY witha camera body, of' a lens:carryingr struc-1. ture Slide-ble into out Qthebody, parte. of the lens-carryingstructure and partsfof the body supporting. a bellowsth c lens-.car-v Tying structure andthe body of the camera having parts lying` closeto eachother when the camera is folded forming a restri'ctefdl` area, the bellows when folded having p0rtions adapted to lie in the restricted area, a series of folds in the bellows, two reinforcing strips for each fold in the major portion of the bellows, and one reinforcing strip for each fold in that portion of the bellows lying in the restricted area, the sin- Signed at Rochester, New York, this 26th day of June, 1923.

CHARLES E. HUTCHINGS. 

